The core of any networked storage infrastructure is the basic hardware components: storage arrays and the fabric that links them to client servers and other services. Over the past few years, the trend has been to networks built around director-class switches -- but how those directors are used is the key to whether they're just consolidation points to replace core-edge architectures or if they actually put more intelligence into the network.

Storage systems, too, have undergone considerable change. iSCSI storage arrays have steady increased their presence in data centers and remote locations, and as iSCSI technology and implementations mature, their impact is certain to become more profound. And on the leading edge of storage are systems that eschew or greatly reduce the role of spinning disks, replacing them with solid state devices that run cool, use far less power and take up less space. In this track, we'll look at the implications of these recent developments.

TRACK: STORAGE SYSTEMS AND NETWORKINGThe core of any networked storage infrastructure is the basic hardware components: storage arrays and the fabric that links them to client servers and other services. Over the past few years, the trend has been to networks built around director-class switches -- but how those directors are used is the key to whether they're just consolidation points to replace core-edge architectures or if they actually put more intelligence into the network.

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Storage systems, too, have undergone considerable change. iSCSI storage arrays have steadily increased their presence in data centers and remote locations, and as iSCSI technology and implementations mature, their impact is certain to become more profound. And on the leading edge of storage are systems that eschew or greatly reduce the role of spinning disks, replacing them with solid state devices that run cool, use far less power and take up less space. In this track, we'll look at the implications of these recent developments.

Downloads included in this track: (click title to download slides)

Integrating iSCSI and FC SANsSpeaker: Howie Goldstein, President, Howard Goldstein AssociatesDescription: iSCSI SANs are attractive because of their relatively low cost and familiar IP architecture, but adding an iSCSI array to an FC shop's storage infrastructure could spawn islands of arrays. Thus, to reap the real benefits of iSCSI storage, it's often necessary to integrate those systems in to the FC fabric. This session will focus on the products and practices necessary to integrate iSCSI into existing FC SAN deployments.

Storage and the WAN -- What Are the Options?Speaker: Marc Staimer, President and CDS, Dragon Slayer ConsultingDescription: Reining in remote or branch offices can help solve a number of storage problems, such as data protection, storage administration and management, and the proliferation of heterogeneous systems. There's no shortage of solutions available, but each comes with its own risks and benefits. In this session, we take a close look at the options and suggest the best fit for certain environments.

Storage Networking -- The Path to PerformanceSpeaker: Howie Goldstein, President, Howard Goldstein AssociatesDescription: When storage managers look at the main benefits of a SAN, they often cite performance. But performance means many things to many people in the IT world. This session identifies just what aspects of performance are or are not critical to the successful deployment of these storage network technologies. During this hour, you will also learn what is and is not important as a focus item and look at the systems and storage involved in levying information flow requirements versus the storage network infrastructure itself. This session also examines where the best place to invest for performance is and dispel some performance myths at the same time. Finally Howie will zero in on the network itself as opposed to the server and storage potions of the information flow path.

The Right Way to Test Storage System PerformanceSpeaker: Brian Garrett, Technical Director of ESG Lab, Enterprise Strategy GroupDescription: The discussion will introduce the concepts needed to interpret storage system performance claims and the tools and processes required for hands-on performance analysis. In this information-packed session, you will be introduced to the elements of storage systems that affect their performance, including storage controllers, caching, bandwidth, protocols, disk drives, backend interconnects and storage services. You'll also learn about different types of storage performance tools, and where they fit in the storage benchmark spectrum. Tools to be examined include IOMETER, SPC, SpecSFS, JetStress, LoadSimm and iozone. And finally, you will learn how to interpret storage system performance results with a focus on the metrics that matter the most to your business.

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